LA Roadrunners

LA Roadrunners is the most amazing running group.
I joined the group when undecided to run my first marathon in 2011. They meet up in Venice by the school and beach front for a weekly Saturday morning run.
There are 20 pace groups available, 10 run groups, 5 walk/​run groups and 5 walk groups.
The pace leaders are all awesome people with lots of running experience and motivation.
I started my first marathon training with group 5. Pace leaders Tracy, Noah, Sarah and Bruce. They were all amazing and helped me finish my first marathon at 4:41.
During the running season (5 – 6 months) I injured my knee and ran briefly with group 6 with Mitch and more great pace leaders.
My second marathon in 2012 yielded a 4:06 thanks to the continued help of the pace leaders.
Every week I looked forward to the group run and weekly emails from Tracy.
There is no wonder that the have the best finish rate for trainees, they offer great advice, training, tips, workshops, lessons etc.
During the runs, they offer water and Gatorade stops. After the run, back at the school, they offer bananas and other post run foods.
If you ever thought about running a marathon and though it wasn’t possible, think again. Join the LARR and you will be guaranteed success!

I trained with the Roadrunners for my second marathon in LA and it was incredible. The early morning runs on Saturday mornings at the beach are tough but totally doable once you meet your pace group and get moving. They also offer nutritional seminars and quick meetings after the long runs to help you with your training (running hills, cross training, ice baths, etc). If you’re considering doing a marathon definitely get yourself signed up with them. It’s worth every penny.

My favorite running club in LA. The meetup is at the Westchester Elementary School at 7am on Saturdays for the 26 (get it, wink wink) weeks leading up to the LA Marathon. There are 30 different pace groups for every running and walking pace from never walked further than the couch to the fridge, all the way to running studs going for elite qualifying marathon times.
Love the community. Love running along the beach in the morning, and love the running time improvement results I see every running season. 100% glowing endorsement.

I’ve recently joined the the LA Roadrunners group that meets in Venice on Saturday mornings. I’m now convinced that no matter what level of fitness/​conditioning you are at, this group will help take you to the next level. Within 2 weeks of joining, my knowledge about running long distance and my ability have increased exponentially!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I had wanted to run a marathon for years, but every time i started to try, I’d end up giving up, because, it turns out, it is really hard to train for a marathon on your own.
I found roadrunners on the internet. I signed up for the 2009 – 2010 training year, and was amazed how many fellow Angelinos were also interested in running a marathon. Marathoners come in all shapes, sizes and colors. You will meet people here from all walks of life.
There are 20 different training groups, from fast, fast almost elite runners to groups that walk the whole marathon (you go!!!)…So basically, this means there is a group for anyone!
Roadrunners strongly encourages and fosters meeting new people/​fellow runners. I found everyone (pace leaders and fellow trainees) to be really supportive. Try getting through a 20 mile run in the rain without support, and you’ll see how valuable an organization like roadrunners is!
The program is exceptionally well organized. The volunteer pace leaders are all experienced marathoners, and will get you through the training and the race. They offered invaluable advice during the 6 month training, and i felt more than well-​prepared for the big day. there are water stops all along the way during weekend runs, food after the run (bananas, pretzels, etc), and optional lectures about different topics relating to training after long runs
In fact, even though I’ve run 2 other marathons since the LA marathon last year, I signed up again to participate in Roadrunners this year. It became part of my weekly routine, and I just couldn’t imagine training for the LA marathon again without their support.

I am no athlete. Running? Who does that? But I have to check «complete a marathon» off my bucket list at some point … and no place better to do it than with LA Roadrunners Run/​Walk Group — a fairly large group of people from all walks of life who want to train for a marathon.
It was a great feeling to join hundreds of people every weekend as we trained along the ocean. The scenery is beautiful, the people are inspiring and the feeling of accomplishment is invigorating. I couldn’t imagine taking on this challenge alone. It was well worth the investment.

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life! The training is well thought out and evidence-​based. Approximately 6 months in duration, every sat at 7am. Superfriendly and knowledgeable staff and pace leaders. Cost somewhere around $ 250, I can’t remember exactly but the race entry fee is included. Some people cycle between the groups every now and again but pretty much you run with the same people every sat and get to become friends with them. I’ve met a lot of nice and supportive people. Running with a team gives me a lot of motivation to get out and do it. Seminars every sat after the run regarding nutrition, proper shoes, injury prevention, etc. Water stations every 2 – 3 miles or so.
A lot more people join LA Roadrunners compared to the other teams i’ve seen or been apart of before such as Team in Training or LA Leggers. I’ve liked LA Roadrunners the best and highly recommend them.

The training with LA Road Runners rocks! They’re well versed in any issue that may come up and continually motivate me. I’ll do the training again next year.

I agree. I trained with the roadrunners in 2006 and was really impressed with their program. Training with them has been a blast. So much so, that for the last two years, I’ve been working with them as one of their «unofficial team chiropractors» helping athletes with injury prevention and custom orthotics!
Great review,
Dr. Eric

Running a marathon is not something you can train for alone. Not unless you have the willpower and drive of someone much more fortified than I. Most of my friends sounded skeptical when I told them I was planning to do it. I got a lot of, «Wow, I couldn’t do that» and «I can barely run two miles much less 26.» But every single one of them followed that with some version of good luck to you on your adventure. It’s nice to know that even if they think I’m crazy, they’ll still be there to cheer me on.
My friend Liz ran the marathon two years ago. Right in the middle of training for her second marathon she broke her leg while skiing. What would normally have been a major but completely healable break, became a much bigger deal involving multiple surgeries and very serious complications. Today, she has trouble walking and will never run again. All because of a simple skiing accident. So when she got all teary and excited when I told her I was thinking about running the marathon, a little part of me knew that I couldn’t say no, I was now in it for the long haul.
It was Liz who suggested that I join Roadrunners. She said it had been a fabulous experience for her and she really enjoyed training with them. But Liz and I are different people. She’s loud and crazy and can talk to anyone, anywhere without an ounce of shyness. I’m more quiet and reserved and I get really really shy in big groups of people I don’t know. I’m just not a joiner. I don’t like cheering and chanting to get all psyched up, I find it silly and I feel conspicuous and stupid. But I knew that I would have to take a page out of Liz’s book and get over myself if I was going to run the marathon.
Three weeks ago I joined Roadrunners. There’s chanting and cheering before each run. And it’s a huge group of people which I found very intimidating at first. But you don’t really have the option to be shy, you just have to go for it. And the thing is, they’re all in this just like I am, so we all have one very important connection which makes talking to them much easier than I thought it would be. Since I started, I’ve met some really cool people, and I think I found a good pace group for me out of the 10 running, 5 run/​walk, and 5 walking pace groups. Some of the paceleaders are hilarious, and I enjoy their stand up comedy style of leadership and boundless energy.
Overall, I think there is way more to like about Roadrunners than there is to dislike about it. While it’s a little disorganized at times and I feel like people could know more about the nitty gritty of running than they do, it’s also run by volunteers who are just doing this out of the kindness of their hearts and a love of running. They bring in guest lecturers each week to talk about different things like shoes, good running form, and nutrition, and so far the lectures have been very interesting and informative. The form lecture was particularly helpful, because as Max M. told me, I run like a soccer player. Well, after 20 years of playing soccer, that doesn’t surprise me at all. So I need to alter my sprint-​ready form to one that’s made for the long haul, and now I have some guidance as to how to do that.
The most important change that I’ve gone through in the weeks since I started training is that I went from «Can I really do this?» to «I’m really doing this and it feels great!» There are people in the group who come from every level of previous training. Big, tall, short, fat, skinny, athletic, not at all athletic, they take everyone and turn them into a finisher. It’s pretty amazing to witness the transformation. Every one of my skeptical friends could do it too, because I guarantee there’s someone in the group who’s worse off than they are, and I see them week after week training just like I am. So if you’re reading this wondering if you could complete a marathon, the answer is yes you can.
Liz called yesterday to check in with me and see how I’m doing on my training. Just a friendly call of encouragement. She’s good like that. As it turned out, I was passed out on the couch napping after our long run that morning. It wasn’t actually that long, but I was exhausted. I’m hoping that in the weeks to come I won’t pass out every Saturday afternoon. But even if I do, it’ll be okay because I will have earned it. And I’ll be that much further along on my way to finishing the marathon.